Judge dismisses George Zimmerman’s lawsuit against NBC

Orlando, Fla. • A Florida judge has dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed by George Zimmerman against NBC.

Judge Debra Nelson said in an order made public Monday that Zimmerman had failed to show that the news network acted with malice.

The judge says the malice standard is appropriate because Zimmerman was a public figure.

Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The teen was killed by Zimmerman in February 2012 in Sanford. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense.

Zimmerman said NBC's editing of a story on the shooting made it sound as if Zimmerman voluntarily told an operator that Martin was black. He was actually responding to a dispatcher's question about the Miami teen's race. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.